Health Insurance and Your Tax Return

Your tax return includes questions about whether your health care plan provided minimum essential coverage in 2019. Most of us must have health insurance that qualifies as minimum essential coverage.* You can use the 1095 tax form to help answer questions about minimum essential coverage when filing your taxes. You should expect to receive your 1095 forms by February 14, 2020.

To learn if your plan is considered minimum essential coverage, choose the section below that describes how you enrolled in your health plan. The information below may help to determine whether your plan provided minimum essential coverage. However, please talk to your tax advisor about how these rules affect you.

All of our individual and family major medical plans are minimum essential coverage. These include:

Metallic plans (Gold, Silver, Bronze plans)

Catastrophic plans

Government plans, such as Medicare Advantage

Grandfathered and non-grandfathered plans

Your plan's Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC), which you received when you enrolled in your plan, also lets you know that it provides minimum essential coverage. You'll find this section on your SBC:

In addition, BCBSIL will send you IRS Form 1095-B to use when you file your taxes. You should expect to receive your 1095 forms by February 14, 2020.

If you need additional information, contact your tax advisor or visit IRS.gov to see what — if any — documents you may need.

Plans offered by employers can differ from company to company, so check your Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC). You should have received your SBC when you enrolled in your plan. You can also contact your employer’s benefits or HR department for a copy.

Your plan's Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) will let you know if it provides minimum essential coverage. You'll find this section on your SBC:

In addition, BCBSIL may have sent you IRS Form 1095-B to use when you file your taxes. BCBSIL sent out forms to members of fully insured groups. If you are unsure if this applies to you, speak with your HR department or benefits advisor for more information.

If you need additional information, contact your tax advisor or visit IRS.gov to see what — if any — documents you may need.

If you didn’t have minimum essential coverage in 2018 or before, you may have had to pay a penalty with your federal tax return. You may have avoided a penalty if you qualified for a health coverage exemption. For 2019, there is no longer a federal penalty. However, you should consult with your tax advisor to learn more about the law.

To ensure that you have minimum essential coverage next year, enroll in a plan during the open enrollment period. If the open enrollment period has ended, certain life events may qualify you for special enrollment. If you qualify, you can enroll in an individual plan with minimum essential coverage this year.

* Contact your tax advisor for more information about the individual mandate.

The information and content provided on this page is for informational purposes only. It is not intended, nor should it be construed as, or relied upon, as legal or tax advice. Please consult with an attorney or tax advisor to address your particular circumstance.

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